Everything that you should know about E-commerce shipping.

E-commerce shipping.

Everything that you should know about E-commerce shipping.

Running a business, especially an online store, for that matter is more profitable than said. Although, it comes with its own fair share of hurdles. Customers have the liberty to shop online and make payments instantly, but the job is not done till the order is delivered to their doorstep. In addition to e-commerce, payment gateways and order management, the part of shipping and logistics plays a major role in the success of an online business.

It Builds Trust

Shipping goods to customers on time and in good condition helps in building trust and making loyal customers. It is the key to making or breaking a great business. There are a lot of factors which need to be considered in order to fulfill any delivery.

How Do You Pack?

Packaging of goods plays a key factor in determining your shipping and delivery costs. You can choose from the various materials required to pack goods and keep it light. Heavy packaging may cost a bomb to just deliver the goods to your customers and may not work out on the costs levied and be profitable to your business. Keep it simple and yet make sure that it's effective and that goods are not broken or damaged during transit.

Packaging & Marketing

Choosing the right packing material and company branding on the packaging is a great way of marketing. It allows the customer to associate with your brand and gives a sense of belonging in the long run. Many customers crib that they had spent a lot to buy a product and the vendor had shipped it in a shabby manner. “What if my product broke during transit. I would have to go through the hassle of connecting with them all over again for the same product and have to wait for it again to be replaced.” So you must ensure that the goods are protected at all times. Also, you might want to look into company branding on the packaging and conduct a quality check before shipping them out.

Delivery Box Info

Another important aspect of shipping is the Delivery Box Info. You might want to paste and also add a copy of the invoice for customers to be able to identify the goods they had ordered for. It also saves them time to sign for a package, instead of searching online for an invoice that you might have emailed earlier.

Third Party Logistics

Tying up with third party logistics makes sense as it would be beneficial in cutting costs when it comes to picking up and delivering packages around the country. It helps in not having to invest in multiple storehouses and managing them. You could also look at part delivery to the logistics vendor, to save time and cost as well. Choosing a warehouse close to a logistics vendor will help in saving time and gaining good business relationships with them.

Also, digital barcoding is a great way to keep track of the orders and their shipment. This will also help to notify your customers about the arrival of goods, so it makes it easy for them to sign for their packages.

Return Policy

Many customers choose to buy products from online stores who have a free return policy, as they cannot try out the goods they buy or check them for quality and features. You might want to look into how best this will affect your shipping and logistics charges as many customers would prefer to return goods once bought, as they do not like what they see. This is one of the additional factors to keep in mind while planning out shipping and logistics for your business. It needs to be part of budgeting costs.

Feedback Matters

It is always a feel good idea, to have a thank you and feedback note sent to your customers via email to check how they feel about your product. You might want to give a feedback call instead, if you like, to know their review. This goes a long way, in improving your services and quality of goods for future enhancements.

Build Loyal Customers

Online business is all about attracting a good customer base and improving on sales, by not just providing an excellent product catalog and website for your customers, but also, the e-commerce, payment options, order management and timely delivery of the product which will buy you loyal customers and improve on referrals as well.

Conclusion

Now, take some time to think about the points articulated above. Make sure you get everything done, as per your business size. Then, you will start noticing a change. Continue to work on improving your performance. That's the only secret.

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